The Baltic Dry Index’s plunge to a historic low in February has been discouraging investment in bulkers, as China’s coal demand slows and Indonesia shows no sign of resuming exports of raw ore. A deluge of bulker newbuilding deliveries this year makes the market outlook bleak.

The orders in March comprised two container ships, 11 Handysize bulkers, six Handymax bulkers, two Panamax bulkers, one coal carrier, three ore carriers, one VLCC, one Aframax tanker, one LPG carrier, and two chemical tankers.

JSEA member yards exported 33 ships of 1,458,492 gt in March, up from the 30 ships of 1,327,116 gt exported y/y.

As of 31 March 2015, Japanese yards’ outstanding orderbook stands at 632 ships of 27,641,720 gt, compared with 658 ships of 27,716,641 gt in February 2014.

As the third anniversary of the entry into force of the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC) approaches, Seafarers’ Rights International (SRI) is embarking on a comprehensive study on the effectiveness of the Convention. The study has been commissioned by the International Transport Workers’ Federation. It will be an in-depth and... Read more →